A Stray Named Muffin
by wx4rmk
Summary: A simple trip into town turns into something that will change the Cartwright's lives forever.


Walking down the main street of Virginia City, Hoss and Joe were sent into town with one mission: to pick up some much-needed supplies for the ranch. Little did they know, they were about to come home with an extra item that was not on their supply list.

"Hey, Hoss. Look over there." Hoss turned in the direction that Little Joe was pointing. Whatever it was, though, was gone by the time he turned in the direction that Joe was pointing.

"There ain't nothing there besides some old crates."

"No, no, Hoss. I swear there was something there. It was big and shaggy. A wolf? Maybe a bear? Whatever it was, it went down that alley."

Hoss just shook his head at Joe's overactive imagination. Ever since Little Joe was a little tyke, he was always seeing things that weren't really there. There was one time when Joe was about seven years old, he swore he saw a lion, like the ones from Africa. Now, no one believed him as African lions weren't found in Nevada, but Joe was insistent. Ben finally gave in and went looking for the beast thinking Joe might have mistook the animal he saw with an ordinary mountain lion. After searching the forest and coming upon the cave Joe saw the animal going into, Ben came back to report that he did indeed find the creature. It turned out to be just an orange housecat with a litter of kittens! No one let Joe live that one down for a long time.

"Joe, there just ain't no dang way a bear could be wandering the streets of Virginia City. Come on, we got supplies to pick up."

"Aww, Hoss. I'm not lying. There was a big, dark animal over there. Let's just take one peek down the alley. It won't take up that much time. If there isn't anything there, we can forget I even saw something."

Before Hoss could respond, he was being dragged along the street towards the alley. How he always got roped into Little Joe's schemes was a mystery to him.

Reaching the alley, they both squinted down the shadowy passageway. More crates and barrels lined both sides of the alley. "There isn't anything here, Joe. Come on, let's go." Hoss turned to head back to the main street without giving the alley a second glance.

Disappointed at not finding something, Joe was just about to turn around and follow Hoss back to the mercantile when movement caught his eye. "Hoss, wait! There is something down there." Hoss quickly turned back around joining Joe. There, sitting halfway down the alley behind a crate was the animal. They slowly moved towards the dark figure. It raised its head when it heard their footsteps approaching finally allowing them to make out what it was: a dog.

Joe moved closer to take a look at it. It was thin, but its fluffy, dark grey fur made it look bigger than it actually was. It looked like it had been on its own for a while as its fur was caked with mud. It was laying on the ground eating a left-over muffin that the restaurant threw out from breakfast. "Told you I wasn't making him up. Hey! Since he's eating a muffin let's name him Muffin."

"Now, Joe. This here is a stray dog. We can't just be naming him and taking him home with us."

Joe turned his puppy dog eyes on Hoss. Despite Little Joe being in his twenties, the look still worked impeccably well on Hoss. "But he's all alone and afraid. We can't just leave him here. Plus, he might be able to help us around the ranch. Please?"

Once again, Hoss was being forced into one of Joe's plans. While Hoss wanted to put his foot down for once and tell Joe 'no', he did feel sorry for the dog and in the end, agreed to take him home. "Fine, but we'll have to tell Pa about him. If he says we can't keep him, we'll have to bring him back here."

Joe reluctantly agreed and after finding some rope by one of the crates, tied it around the dog's neck. As they walked back to the wagon, Hoss was sure that someone in town would see them with the dog and claim it as their own. It never happened, though, so they all loaded up in the wagon before heading home, supplies long forgotten.

* * *

Ben heard the wagon as his sons arrived in the yard. He was anxious to get his desperately needed supplies. Coming out of the barn, his smile faded as he noticed there weren't any supplies in the back of the wagon. Where supplies should have been, a shaggy dog sat.

"Howdy, Pa!" Hoss exclaimed as he pulled the wagon to a stop.

Ben walked up to the wagon, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at both of them. "Boys. Where are the supplies I asked you to pick up?"

"Well…umm…see…" It didn't matter that he was adult, that look of his Pa's always made Hoss nervous.

"What Hoss means to say, is that we meant to pick them up, but there was this dog. Well, we didn't know it was a dog at first. We had to follow it, though. And then it was just lying there in the alley. Alone and unhappy. We couldn't leave him there. And we named him Muffin. We can keep him, can't we Pa?

"Whoa, slow down Joe." Joe's rambling could make anyone confused. "So let me get this straight. There was this...creature…which turned out to be a stray dog. You both followed it and then decided to bring it home, a home where we already have enough animals to look after, instead of leaving it in town?"

"Yeah, Pa, sounds 'bout right. I tried to talk Little Joe out of it, but it sure is hard to say no to him. Plus, he was all alone and looked underfed. Least we can do is give it a bath and some food before returning it to town."

Adam, hearing the commotion, came out on the porch and stood watching from a distance. It never amazed him how his younger brothers could turn such a simple chore into a big fiasco.

"But Pa! We can't return him. We already named him!" Out of the corner of his eye he could see Hoss giving him that 'I told you not to name him' look with his eyes.

"We are definitely not keeping him. We have enough things and animals to worry about on this ranch without adding a rambunctious dog into the mix."

"He's not rambunctious. See how quietly he's just sitting there." Three sets of eyes turned to look at the dog still sitting in the wagon. "If we train him correctly, he could be a big asset to us. He could help us herd cattle and be a watch dog for the ranch."

"I just don't know. Dogs can be a lot of work, especially one we would have to train. I, for one, know I can't designate time to train a dog."

Adam curious in the conversation now, stepped down off the porch to join his family. "You know, Pa, Joe might be right. I've read about some of the benefits to having a dog on a ranch. I think I heard the Martins even have one on their ranch. They said it cut man power by at least a third when they were out working with the cattle not to mention the added peace of mind in security the dog added not only at home, but also on the trail."

Ben was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Interesting. Tell you what, we'll give the dog a trial test. If you can train him by the fall, we can then see how he does on the cattle drive. If everything goes smoothly, I'll consider keeping him as a full-time member of our family."

"Great! See, Hoss, I told you Pa wouldn't say no."

"Right, boys. First order of business is to give that dog-"

"His name is Muffin, Pa."

"Yes, right, give Muffin a bath. He's foul smelling and who knows how long that dirt has been in his fur."

Adam and Ben turned to head back to the house while Hoss and Joe got the bath ready. Adam knew he probably should stay and help his younger brothers. It wasn't that he was a wimp around dogs, but dogs just weren't his favorite type of animal. It'd be more entertaining to watch from the porch anyway.

* * *

Hoss and Joe were finishing up bathing Muffin. Before either got a chance to grab a towel and dry him off, he jumped out of the tub and headed towards the house. Some people say that animals can sense human emotions and whether you like them or not. They more you seem to dislike an animal, the more it always seems to be attracted to you. Muffin could definitely sense that Adam didn't like dogs as he ran right up to Adam who was peacefully reading on the porch. Taking one look at Adam, he gave his whole body a shake. Water flew in all directions, soaking both Adam and his book. Taken by surprise, Adam stood up ready to yell at the dog to go away when he heard his younger brothers laughing from near the barn.

"Sure looks like Muffin seems to have taken a liking to you!" Hoss barely choked out between his laughs.

Adam glanced down at the animal. He was actually kind of cute and he smelled way better than he had an hour ago. Leaning down to give Muffin a scratch on the head, he replied, "I guess he's alright." Seeing the glint of excitement in both their eyes he quickly added, "You both are in charge of training him, though!"

Hoss and Joe looked between themselves before responding identically, "Deal!"

* * *

Over the next several weeks, both Joe and Hoss continued diligently plugging away at training Muffin to become a ranch dog. It took months, but before long, he was a welcome addition to the Ponderosa. How they had ever lived or worked on the ranch without Muffin was a mystery to them. None of the Cartwrights, not even Adam, couldn't imagine life without Muffin, or any dog. It was as natural as the sun rising or the wind blowing through the trees to have a faithful four-legged animal running alongside their horses. And to think it all started with Little Joe's crazy imagination one afternoon in the streets of Virginia City.


End file.
